Mindy Kaling shares new details on late-night talk show movie

After news broke last week that Mindy Kaling and Emma Thompson are attached to a film Kaling wrote set in the world of late-night talk shows, the Mindy Project star and showrunner is sharing new details on how the project came together.

The film, described in reports as The Devil Wears Prada meets Broadcast News, centers on a veteran late-night host in danger of losing her show right around the same time she hires her first female writer. Thompson is in talks to play the fictional TV host, while Kaling will play the recently-hired scribe.

During an appearance Monday on Good Morning America, Kaling revealed she wrote Thompson’s part with her in mind.

“I’ve basically made my career by being like, I don’t wait around for people to write something for me or cast me in something because I don’t look like a lot of most actresses in Hollywood,” Kaling said. “So, I just thought, I love Emma Thompson, I want to see more of her, and I just wrote her this part in a movie.”

Kaling added, “I sent it to her thinking like, okay, well, I’ll never hear from her. And then she wrote me and was like, I love this, let’s do it — and so now we’re doing it. I’m really excited about it.”

The project, which was acquired by Fox 2000, probably won’t shoot until next year, Kaling told the GMA anchors. In addition to starring in the film and writing its screenplay, she is set to produce the project alongside Scott Rudin and Howard Klein.

Kaling’s upcoming film projects also include roles in Ava DuVernay’s A Wrinkle in Time and the all-female Ocean’s Eight reboot. The fifth season of The Mindy Project debuts this Tuesday on Hulu.